Lucian froze for a moment—partly confused why she'd singled him out, partly stunned by her beauty up close. He had of course seen how pretty she was, but getting to observe her up close was a different experience in and of itself. There was only one word that came to mind looking at her figure.

  'Exotic Enigma.'

  ...Two words then.

  Her curves stood out, accentuated by glistening sweat tracing her lean muscles. Those intriguing blue eyes, long lashes, full supple lips—the kind that made people fantasize about being pressed against them. And finally, the reason he labeled her exotic, her skin tone was dark, and it didn't look like a tan; she was truly dark-skinned. Where he came from, dark-skinned people were rare... and none had ever been this stunning. She truly was a work of art... a work of art that had practically been stalking him with zero attempts to hide it.

  Gathering himself, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "How am I supposed to know? I thought he was coming up with ideas?" His head he, gesturing towards the smooth talker.

  To his surprise though, she scoffed, "Stop trying to throw me off. I know you already have at least an idea on what the creepy bastard is using to target us."

  Lucian was a bit surprised and furrowed his brows in response, "What gave you such an idea?"

  The braided beauty rolled her eyes, "Because I've been watching you, since our paralysis."

  Lucian's eyes narrowed, and his gaze grew somewhat hostile.

  "You've been watching me? And for what reason might that be?" He questioned in a not-so-friendly tone.

  The braided beauty sighed and replied, "Well, genius, for your information, I just happened to have you in my line of sight, and I saw you move even before old gramps here..." she gestured towards the old soldier who was calmly listening to the squabbles in the group. Though it didn't look like he would remain like that for long.

  She continued, "I saw your reaction right after Old Gramps broke the paralysis—saving us all. I was skeptical at first, but then I saw your actions right after, walking around, sparking discussions and even slight nuisance. Your only saving grace was that everyone had bigger problems. I wondered what you were doing, but it all made sense when they concluded silence was the cause of the paralysis. You did all you did because you had already figured it out, far before them."

  Lucian was a bit stunned by her words. Indeed, before they came to the conclusion silence was dangerous, he did start walking around to cause everyone to speak, ensuring silence knew no place in their midst. He'd nearly gotten roughed up for it. But he didn't realize she had been watching the whole time.

  Seeing that he had dropped his guard, she added, "And I remember clearly you having the same look as now, so what have you figured out?"

  At her urging, Lucian gave her a long look before sighing. He considered lying or outright not telling the truth, but of what use would that be?

  Sure, only one person might pass trial—but that person would need help to reach the end. If he was to possibly be that person, he would need something of an alliance, and she seemed to be his best bet. She looked strong enough to hold her own with the brawniest of the group, she was observant and also quite smart, she seemed to be cool with him, unlike the others who looked annoyed by his presence, and most importantly... she was quite pretty. Her looks weren't the deciding factor, but compared to the rest of this crowd, she was a hell of a lot easier on the eyes.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Having made up his mind, Lucian looked back at the braided beauty before nodding, "Indeed, I have thought about what the hellspawn could possibly be after, and one thing comes to mind. But I'm not sure yet," he said, massaging his temples. His gaze coincidentally ran past the sketchy guy, and Lucian continued, "Nothing I can be sure about until I confirm something."

  She noticed his gaze and asked curiously while placing a hand on her hip, "What do you need to confirm?"

  Lucian gestured towards the sketchy guy, "You see that guy over there, that can never seem to keep his mouth shut?"

  "Sketchy?" She asked in confirmation. But her question left Lucian speechless.

  "Sketchy? That's what you call him?" Lucian asked, looking at her strangely.

  She then stared at him with a brow raised as though it were a matter of fact. "Is there a better word to refer to him as?"

  Lucian was silent for a bit before agreeing weirdly, "Sketchy is accurate." But then, he shook his head lightly and continued, "But that's not the point. In order to confirm my thoughts, I have to speak to... Sketchy."

  The braided beauty's eyes widened a bit, seemingly a little surprised, "That's it?" she asked, and Lucian nodded back.

  Receiving his confirmation, she let out a small grin, "Say less."

  With that, she turned and started marching towards Sketchy, who was still pulling the group down with his pessimism, annoying and putting everyone on edge. It had gotten so annoying that even Smooth talker had grown tired of reasoning with him. If silence weren't a death sentence here, everyone would've ganged up on him by now.

  "This isn't a trial, it's a death sentence. The demons are probably up there, laughing at our futile attempts. You guys should just give up. You heard that voice. This entire world is working towards our downfall. How are we supposed... huh?" His sentence was cut short when he was raised from the ground.

  He was stunned, and before he could even make sense of what was going on, he was punched squarely on the face. Pain spread in his face, but that wasn't all. A knee was driven into his guts, and another punch sent him reeling to the ground.

  'Ooh, that looks painful,' Lucian thought, wincing as Sketchy groveled on the floor. He then turned to the braided beauty who was looking down on sketchy with cold eyes.

  "Like I thought, she's strong," Lucian muttered in slight amazement. He knew she was strong, but lifting up a man from the ground with one hand? She was on a whole other level.

  "The fuck? Who..." Sketchy exploded, wanting to retaliate against whoever it was that performed that combo on him, but he lost his voice after seeing the perpetrator.

  The braided beauty's blue eyes were icy cold right now, and despite the smirk on her face, she seemed ready to murder Sketchy. Fear dominated Sketchy, and the only thing that came to mind was to ask for help. His pleading gaze reached the smooth talker. This prompted the smooth talker to cough awkwardly, attempting to claim the braided beauty's attention. If he couldn't properly attend to and handle this matter, his authority would be on shaky grounds and would eventually be challenged.

  "Ahem, pardon me, but though he might be a nuisance, we might very well need him for our journey to the gate. I would appreciate it if you didn't kill him... yet," the smooth talker said with a soothing voice, as though trying to enamor her in his trap. But his charms were useless before her.

  Staring at him with a cold indifference, she said, "Don't worry, I don't want to kill him, this trial is more than enough for that task." Listening to her tone, it was as though it was only a matter of fact. Sketchy involuntarily shuddered at her words.

  But she continued on as she walked towards Sketchy, "I just need him to answer a few questions. After that, he can go about his whining duties."

  Smooth talker thought about it for a second or two before agreeing. "Sure, I'll let you have him for a few..." he didn't finish his sentence as he realized she wasn't paying him any more attention and was already dragging Sketchy away.

  "Hey! Hey! Hey! What did I do to you? Leave me alone! Ok I can walk, let me at least walk..." Sketchy was trying to reason with her, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. The smooth talker huffed, displeasure flashing in his eyes before he smoothed his features and addressed the others, his tone a touch sharper than before.

  The braided beauty threw Sketchy before Lucian who was silently stunned, staring at her with intrigued eyes.

  "Here he is. Ask him your question," she said while placing a hand on her hip.

  'Yep, Exotic Enigma is the right term for her,' Lucian thought before shaking off all the unnecessary thoughts and focusing on Sketchy below him.

  "What do you want from me?" Sketchy questioned the braided beauty with fear and confusion. She just looked at him and said, "I'm not the one who you should be asking that question," she gestured towards Lucian.

  Sketchy's gaze finally shifted to Lucian. For a moment, his fear was mixed with confusion, then a spark of recognition flickered in his eyes as he recalled his earlier taunts and the braided beauty's intervention. Understanding dawned on him with brutal clarity. He threw himself at Lucian's legs, clutching them desperately. "O... oh hell, I... I'm so sorry for what I said earlier. Please, beg your girlfriend... your friend... please just make her stop!"

  Lucian and the braided beauty's eyes widened as they both blurted out, "Girlfriend!"

  Though, their reactions to the misunderstanding seemed to differ.